Author

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Quotes

Hungarian-American psychologist 1934–2021. Defined the concept of "flow" — the state of optimal absorption in a task.

8 sourced quotes from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi across Flow State.

“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times. The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”

Flow · 1990 Flow State

“Contrary to what we usually believe, the best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times — they are the moments when we are completely absorbed.”

Flow · 1990 Flow State

“Happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It does not depend on outside events, but rather, on how we interpret them.”

Flow · 1990 Flow State

“The autotelic personality finds value in doing things for their own sake.”

Flow · 1990 Flow State

“To overcome the anxieties and depressions of contemporary life, individuals must become independent of the social environment to the degree that they no longer respond exclusively in terms of its rewards and punishments.”

Flow · 1990 Flow State

“Flow is the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.”

TED · 2004 Flow State

“The body is always with us, but the self disappears in flow.”

Finding Flow · 1997 Flow State

“The Zen state of "no mind" is the same state the climber calls being in the zone. The vocabulary differs; the experience does not.”

Flow · 1990 · footnote Flow State